What to do in Anchorage?

Mariners,
I am passing through Anchorage, Ak for a few days and would like to hear from anyone who has any suggestions for site seeing or historical places to visit. I don’t know much about the area and don’t want to miss out if there is something interesting to see. Thank you in advance for any comments.

I’ve never made it past Darwin’s Theory.

That is a hard question to answer, and I’ve spent quite a bit of time in Anchorage over many years. Anchorage is surrounded by tremendous natural beauty, but its an architectural wastland. Most of the buildings look like they were just transplanted from some dumpy little town down in the bayou. The bar and restaurant on the 20th floor of the Captain Cook Hotel might be a good place to start; great views, good teak interior, and good food. Anchorage has plenty of good watering holes and restaurants. Speaking of great food, don’t miss Simon & Seaforth’s on L Street. Humpy’s, a classic Alaska bar and restaurant on 5th Ave next to City Hall is another must. There are plenty of shops on 4th Ave that are worth a look. The Alaska Native Heritage Center Museum, the Egan Convention Center and various other centers may be of interest. The Iditarod Museum is out in Wasilla. If you like aviation, you’ve got to see Lake Hood, the world’s largest float plane base. For evening comedy entertainment its hard to beat The Whale Fat Follies at Mr.Whitekey’s Fly-by-Night Club. If you are young enough, and don’t mind super load rock music, Chilkoot Charlie’s is another classic Alaska institution. Of course there is always The Great Alaska Bush Company (which is mostly sans bush these days). If you like to ski, Alyeska is a good mountain and its technically within the City of Anchorage (its about 30 miles from downtown) and its also classified as the world’s northern most rainforest. The best way to see anything in Alaska is to fly over it in small plane. There is a lot to see from the air fairly close to Anchorage.

[QUOTE=SeaSick;88707]I’ve never made it past Darwin’s Theory.[/QUOTE]

A great name for a not so great bar in downtown Anchorage near 4th street. F street (right around the corner) is the favorite of the airline pilots.

Thanks for the info gentlemen.